1. Field of the Invention
The present invention deals with the field of devices for automatically processing envelopes. Particularly, this provides a device for automatically closing or opening the envelope closing flaps of envelopes of any size. Often it is desired to print, engrave, stamp or emboss on the closing flap of an envelope. When one of these activities is performed while the envelope is in the closed position often there is penetration to the front side of the envelope which is unacceptable. As such, it is common that envelope flaps are opened for printing and are then closed after printing for other processing or for distribution. This activity is often performed manually. The present invention provides a relatively small convenient apparatus which is portable and can be used for opening and/or closing the envelope closing flaps of various sized envelopes at various locations within a printing room. This eliminates the necessity of manually opening each flap prior to printing and manually closing each flap after printing or embossing or other marking of the envelope closing flap itself. One of the unique aspects of the present design is in the ability to close and/or open the closing flap of an envelope solely by changing the orientation of the stack of envelopes in the feed tray.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous patents have been granted for the purposes of processing, forming, opening and closing and filling envelopes for various purposes such as U.S. Pat. No. 1,481,557 patented Jan. 22, 1924 to C. L. Post on an "Envelope Feeding Mechanism"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,877,842 patented Sep. 20, 1932 to A. Gay and assigned to Multipost Co. on an "Envelope Handling Machine"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,918,425 patented Jul. 18, 1933 to S. J. T. Price on an "Envelope Feeding Mechanism"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,986,800 patented Jan. 8, 1935 to H. P. Elliott and assigned to the Elliott Addressing Machine Company on a "Card And Envelope Feeding Apparatus"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,038,645 patented Apr. 28, 1936 to L. A. Cherry et al and assigned to H. W. Hilliard Co., Inc. on an "Envelope Feed Mechanism"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,130,101 patented Sep. 13, 1938 to W. Ritzerfeld on an "Apparatus For Feeding Envelopes And Method Relating Thereto"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,214,265 patented Sep. 10, 1940 to P. H. Wuille on an "Envelope Feeding Mechanism"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,554,577 patented May 29, 1951 to J. R. Lauffer and assigned to Miller-Lauffer Printing Equipment Corp. on an "Envelope Feeder"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,554,578 patented May 29, 1951 to J. R. Lauffer and assigned to Miller-Lauffer Printing Equipment Corp. on an "Envelope Feeding Machine"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,822 patented Mar. 30, 1965 to H. A. Benson on a "Feeding Mechanism For Envelope Printing Press"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,281,142 patented Oct. 25, 1966 to E. H. Treff and assigned to F. L. Smithe Machine Company, Inc. on a "Device For Feeding Envelope Blanks"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,323,792 patented Jun. 6, 1967 to J. A. Hartzell on a "Method And Apparatus For Envelope Flap Extension"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,450,307 patented Jun. 17, 1969 to C. O. Sutton assigned to The American Binder Company on an "Envelope Separator"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,549,067 patented Dec. 22, 1970 to D. T. Robbins on an "Envelope Opening Machine"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,124 patented Jun. 8, 1971 to W. J. Morrison and assigned to Bell & Howell Company on an "Envelope Flap Opening Apparatus And Method"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,312 patented Jun. 22, 1971 to D. G. Sammons on an "Envelope Folder"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,634 patented Aug. 13, 1974 to H. E. Luperti and assigned to Pitney-Bowes, Inc. on an "Automatic Envelope Opener"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,615 patented May 3, 1977 to R. Irvine et al and assigned to Pitney-Bowes, Inc. on an "Envelope Inserter And Feeder System"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,100 patented Dec. 7, 1982 to E. S. Wu et al and assigned to Wang Laboratories, inc. on an "Envelope Feeder"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,157 patented Feb. 1, 1983 to R. E. Hunt et al and assigned to International Business Machines Corporation on a "Compact Envelope Handling Device"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,323 patented Feb. 14, 1984 to H. H. Kulow and assigned to Kulow Products, Inc. on an "Envelope Feeder Method And Apparatus"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,382 patented Jun. 11, 1985 to M. Chu et al and assigned to Primages, Inc. on a "Sheet And Envelope Feed Apparatus For A Printer And Associated Methods"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,298 patented Sep. 10, 1985 to H. H. Kulow and assigned to Rowan Corporation on a "Manually Loaded Envelope Feeder"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,846 patented Aug. 5, 1986 to K. Miles and assigned to Michael Miles, Alfred Dubler, Rick Diebold, David Dubler on a "Dual-Stream Envelope Feeder"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,152 patented Oct. 11, 1988 to R. R. Kruk and assigned to Inscerco Mfg. Inc. on a "Method And Apparatus For Opening Envelope Flaps"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,455 patented Jul. 11, 1989 to R. F. Hurst on a "High Speed Envelope Feeding Apparatus"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,793 patented Dec. 5, 1989 to R. F. Hurst on a "Picker-Stripper-Feeder For Envelope Feeding Apparatus"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,369 patented Apr. 10, 1990 to A. Rutishauser and assigned to Rutishauser Data AG on an "Apparatus For Separating And Feeding Envelopes To An Office Machine"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,522 patented Jan. 22, 1991 to H. E. Paulson on a "Printing Press Feed Mechanism"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,638 patented Jun. 11, 1991 to E. M. Ifkovits, Jr. and assigned to Pitney Bowes Inc. on an "Envelope Transporting Aligning And Stacking Module"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,340 patented Jun. 25, 1991 to C. W. Thompson and assigned to Thompson Manufacturing Company, Inc. on a "Flap Closer"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,215 patented Jun. 30, 1991 to W. A. Orsinger et al and assigned to Bell & Howell Phillipsburg Co. on an "Envelope Flap Opener"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,643 patented Jul. 21, 1992 to S. J. Graveson et al and assigned to Pitney Bowes Inc. on a "Clamping Arm For Envelope Turner"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,250 patented Aug. 18, 1992 to J. D. Zoltner and assigned to Xerox Corporation on an "Oscillating Blade Envelope Rotator"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,076 patented Sep. 22, 1992 to R. Stenz on an "Envelope Feeder With Adjustable Constant Overlap"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,674 patented Mar. 22, 1994 to J. D. Zoltner and assigned to Xerox Corporation on a "High Capacity Envelope Stacker Apparatus"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,068 patented May 16, 1995 to J. H. Marzullo and assigned to Pitney Bowes Inc. on a "Multi-Function Envelope Feeder"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,375 patented Apr. 8, 1997 to N. Suzuki et al and assigned to Juki Corporation on an "Envelope Processing Unit"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,648 patented Feb. 10, 1998 to K. Yates and assigned to Pitney Bowes Inc. on an "Envelope Opening Apparatus"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,221 patented Mar. 3, 1998 to R. D. Maltman et al and assigned to United States Computer Services on an "Envelope Opening Apparatus"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,954 patented Mar. 24, 1998 to G. G. Lines et al and assigned to International Billing Services on an "Envelope Flap Opener Apparatus".